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Thursday, July 17, 2008

I heart tea!

I drink tea all year round. My morning routine is to have a cup of Earl Grey or Lady Grey (Twinings being one of my favorite brands for these flavors). At other times of the day, I will indulge in a cup or two of tea in the mid-afternoon and in the evening.

I have a drawer full of teas that I go to for tea during this time. I have teas from so many places, sometimes it’s hard to keep track. I try not to buy too many at a time as I want to be able to finish the ones I have while they are still fresh. But it’s really hard to resist buying when I walk into a tea shop. Hence, my stuffed tea drawer:

Annie's Tea Drawer

My current favorite tea shop is Lupicia (oh, how I wish they had a Mariage Frères near me!). If you are fortunate enough to have a Lupicia store near you, do check them out. They have a vast array of different teas and lots of flavored teas galore!

So many teas...so little time

It is a little overwhelming when you go into the store—just take your time and look around. Don’t be afraid to ask for a sample of the tea to try—they will brew it for you right there. Some flavors that I’ve really enjoyed there include Tsugaru Green (Green Apple), Sakura (cherry leaves), Jardin Sauvage (a non-fermented rooibos, tasting of mangoes and citrus), Oriental Beauty and Lichee.

Now that it is full-on summer and the days get really hot, it’s not so fun to brew a cup of hot tea. It is during this time that I enjoy drinking some of my teas iced. Not all teas do well cold but I do have a few favorites.

My favorite iced teas

One tea that is very popular is the non-caffeinated roasted barley tea (Mugicha) that the Japanese and Koreans enjoy. I really like it too and will often set a whole jug of it in the fridge to drink through the day.

But my very favorite iced tea these days is the Lichee flavored black tea that I get from Lupicia. When you drink it hot, the lychee flavor is muted and the Keemun tea stands out a bit more. For that reason, I’d rather just drink a plain Keemun hot.

But when it is cold, the lychee sweetness is in the front and simply delicious. I go through plenty of this tea during the summer and it’s a crowd pleaser with all my friends too. Even though it is unsweetened, the lychee's fruity flavor adds its own sweetness to the tea.

Iced Lupicia Lichee Tea

Lupicia Lichee Tea Giveaway

Because I love this tea so much, I want to share it with you, our readers. So, I’m going to have a giveaway of this Lichee tea!

All you have to do is leave a comment on the bottom of this post and tell me about the teas you love to drink in summer. One lucky commenter will be randomly selected to get a 50g bag of Lupicia Lichee tea. This giveaway is open to international readers as well, so everyone can go ahead and leave a comment.

The deadline is 12:00 AM (PST) on the 31st of July. So set a bookmark and remember come back on August 1st for the winner to be announced and see if you won! Or, better yet, enter your email in the "Stay Up To Date" box over on the right sidebar to have all our new posts automatically sent to you.

It's hard to imagine drinking something other than tea (besides beer). When Lupicia opened a location at the new mall extension in downtown SF, I must have gone in there once a week. At some point, I had to draw a line because I may have had more tea then your awesome looking drawer. No, up in Portland, I'll stop in a few of the stores that sell loose herbs and teas and try blending my own using a book I bought at Goodwill for .99 a few years back. Because my allergies kicked off when I got back here, I've been trying to blend a tea with fenugreek, chamomile, fennel and some other things. Iced yerba mate is always good. But i don't mind drinking hot soup or hot tea in hot humid weather for some reason.

Wow, that sounds interesting. I didn't even know there was such a thing as Lichee tea.

We usually stick to blends without caffiene, but it is easy enough to brew it twice to reduce the caffiene in the second brewing.

Currently I have been in love with an herbal blend from a local (Michigan) tea company that uses all organic. It is called Hummingbird Nectar and is from By the Light of Day (that is the name of the tea company). It is very good and has a few pieces of maple sugar in it to take some of the bitter edge off. My kids love it iced!!

Thanks for coming by. I loved the food in Hawaii! Also, we were really trying to find Aoki's - I know it's along the same road - but we drove the same stretch 3 or 4 times and couldn't find it, so we ended up settling for Matsumoto's! We'll have to find it next time. :)

I love tea no matter what season! Summertime, with iced peppermint tea definitely from throat to heart! a touch of Lime and honey(trust me taste better than lemon!) with iced green tea would be perfect too! or Get a great fusion iced Chinese Jasmine Tea add a touch with apple juice and slices of green apple. (My bf birthday is coming and he is hardcore fans of Lychee...);-)

I like lychee tea too but I bought mine from Ranch99. I wonder if there's much of a difference from yours. Also do you think you can post a picture of the Mugicha tin? I would like to get some but am not sure what to get. Thanks!

Love the iced tea at Diamond Head Bakery and Grill on Monsarrat. It's homemade, tastes like Chai. I like it best mixed half and half with lemonade, Arnold Palmer style.I've got to try the Lychee tea, hope I win!

I drink lots of tea year round. Summer time is definitely for cooler and "lighter" varieties. I drink a lot of green and white teas but my favorite is definitely Genmaicha (Japanese green tea with roasted rice and sometimes popcorn). I recently tried Chinese "beauty" green tea which has chrysanthemum, dried fruits and flower buds, as well as some candy rock in it. It is becoming my favorite mid-day tea.

Lichee tea sounds exquisite. Sweet teas on the taste buds, all I need for summer! I have to say I tend to stay a little traditional and I like a sweet mint tea during the summer. I saw a recipe for lemon balm blackcurrant mint tea and my eyes nearly fell out. Sounds like I have a new taste awaiting my tongue. (Really, how yummy does that sound?)

That tea sounds refreshing and delicious! I know the contest is over, but I wanted to thank you for introducing me to the "Research Randomizer" website. What a great idea for contests! I was introduced to your blog from the FoodBuzz contest. Congrats! Great recipes and pics. I want to try the tofu two ways!